Posted on Friday, 27 April 2018

Holidays are meant to be some of the most relaxing and fun times of our year, but they can turn into a nightmare if something goes wrong. The loss or theft of passports, credit cards, travel documents and digital devices can leave us feeling high and dry in a foreign land.

But having easy access to copies of our essential documents can help us sort things out with travel insurers, travel agents, airlines, embassies and other entities we come into contact with when we face problems overseas.

Examples of important documents and information:

• Passports
• Travel insurance contact information
• Tickets and booking references for transport and accommodation
• Birth certificate
• Social security cards/documents
• Immunisation documents
• Visas and any associated invitation letters
• Passwords to important websites
• Bank account and credit card logins and information

Paper copies?

Many travellers keep hard copies of their passport and tickets. But travelling with many of these documents could mean you have too much personal information in one place. Imagine if a thief gained access to a sizeable portion of the information listed above. With identity theft an increasing problem worldwide, it's worth considering a more secure way of storing and accessing this crucial information.

Storing copies with relatives or friends

Leaving copies with someone you trust gives you another option if you can't access you documents.

Digital copies?

The obvious alternative to paper is to go digital: to store this key information either on a device or on the Internet (aka the cloud).

Device storage

You might decide to scan and store important documents on your smart-phone, laptop or tablet.

These devices can of course be password-protected, but a single password arguably provides insufficient security for your important personal information.

Tip: On both Android and iPhones you can set up a six-digit passcode (as opposed to the standard four).

Encrypted folder on a device

There are a variety of methods available to encrypt and password-protect individual folders, which could be a reliable way of keeping your documents secure on a laptop or tablet.

Smartphone apps

Apps are also available for smartphones (Android, iOS and others) which can create hidden secure folders, in which you can keep your documents.

USB drive

You might choose to keep your documents on a special USB device. Popular high-security USB drives are manufactured by the likes of Apricorn, Kingston, Integral and Lepin. These devices commonly destroy the stored data after too many failed logins: For example, the Integral Crypto Drive deletes all its data after six failed password logins.

Internet or cloud storage

Having all your important information 'floating around' on the Internet is not everyone's idea of high security. Yet cloud storage firms encrypt all stored data, meaning that without a specific encryption key, all files are gibberish.

Popular cloud storage solutions include:

• Google Drive
• Amazon Drive
• Microsoft OneDrive
• Dropbox

These can be accessed with a single password. It's a good idea to add 2-step (or Two-Factor - 2FA) verification if you use these services. This involves using your password, followed by a code being sent to your phone which you enter as well. Some systems use fingerprint and voiceprint as the second factor.

Such services are beneficial in that they can be accessed from any device in the world. You can upload your important documents, then download them if and when you need them.

Choosing a strong password

For most of us, remembering all our passwords is becoming increasingly tricky. You may choose to store all your passwords in a spreadsheet, or other document, and access them through a single password. In this case it is crucial you choose a password that is impossible to guess.

Tips for picking a strong password:

• Combine letters, symbols and numbers
• Avoid commonly-used passwords like "123456", "password" or standalone complete words ("elephant" etc.)
• Don't base your password on personal information such as family names, birthplaces, birthdays etc.
• Don't use the same password across multiple apps and websites
• Don't write your passwords down
• Avoid saving passwords to particular browsers

Consider a password manager

A number of password manager programs/devices exist for saving and accessing all your passwords in one place.

These include:

• Applications installed locally
• Online services
• Hardware devices that act as keys

Typically, a single "master" keyword is required, which provides access to all other passwords. Of course, since your entire online life may be accessed with this single password, it must be kept a closely guarded secret. That means choosing a strong password and never noting it down or telling it to anyone else.

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